Part 1
It was late by the time Skinner made it out of the office. Late and raining heavily.
The end of a three month long investigation, complete with the bust of the bad guys was always something to look forward too, but sometimes, Skinner wondered if the debrefing and the paperwork didn't take longer than the investigation itself.
Now on his way home, he was physically and mentally tired, but a day of busting bad guys immedietly followed by mindless paper work left him agitated and high strung.
He was contemplating how nice a hot shower and some scotch would be when he saw a woman walking on the side of the road, dispite the pouring rain. A car was driving slowly along side, and it looked like the driver and the lady were arguing.
Sighing heavily because he didn't really want to intervene, but knowing that he obviously would, Skinner sped up until he could pull his car diagonal to the shoulder, effectively halting the movement of the other vehicle. Flipping on his security lights, Skinner rolled down the passenger side window. "Everything alright?" He asked.
He saw the driver of the car wave and smile, trying to indicate everything was alright and that he could be on his way when Walter heard a familiar voice.
"No, everything is NOT alright."
Skinner peered out into the darkness. "Maggie? For God's sakes, what are you doing walking in this weather?"
Maggie's voice sounded equally surprised, even relieved. "Walter? Oh, thank goodness you're here."
The driver of the other car exited as Maggie approached Skinner's vehicle. Skinner followed suit, not about to be trapped in his car should trouble arise.
"Maggie, I told you I would drive you home. I'm sorry we had a disagreement, but this isn't the way to handle it."
Skinner considered the man for a moment. Could Maggie be out on a date? Didn't seem to be ending well by the looks of things. Either way, Skinner wasn't about to let Maggie get back in the car with this guy.
Something had driven her out into the rain and he was going to find out what. "Maggie, get in my car out of the rain. Let me straighten this out."
Maggie quickly made her way toward Skinner's black Blazer.
When it was obvious that Maggie wasn't returning to his car, the man turned to Skinner hostility. "Listen buddy, I don't know who you are, but my friend and I have just had a disagreement. She'll see sense and get back in the car in a minute."
The man's words, combined with the days aggravation sent Skinner over the edge. He grabbed the man by his jacket lapels and pushed him up against the car. Not enough to hurt, but definitely hard enough to knock the wind out of him a bit.
"Listen, *buddy* the lady obviously does not want to go with you. Now, you have two choices. 1. Get back in your car and drive yourself home. 2. Open your mouth again and let me show you exactly how *fantastic* a day I have had. Now, make your choice. Either way, *I* will be driving Mrs. Scully home tonight."
The man opened and closed his mouth a couple of times and eventually nodded slightly. Skinner released him and the man got back in his car and drove off around Skinner's car.
Scrubbing his face with his hands, Skinner went back to the car to check on Maggie. Under the dome light, Skinner took in Maggie's appearance. She was soaking wet, but was obviously dressed for a night out. Her dark blue silk dress was blotted with large wet spots. She was carrying a black, canvas bag in addition to her handbag.
"Maggie, are you ok?" Maggie nodded vigoursly, even though her face was pale. "Yes, Walter, I'm fine. Phil was just getting much too familiar for my taste. You came along just at the right time."
Skinner suddenly regretted giving the guy the option to drive away. "Were you on a date?"
Maggie leaned back against the backrest. "No, I was at an awards ceremony for a group I volunteer for. I went with a friend and her husband, but my friend was feeling ill and so they went home early. *Phil*..." She spat out his name like it put a bad taste in her mouth. "offered to drive me home. I've known him for years, and he's always been flirtatious with me, but never like that."
Skinner felt heat rise in his face, but also felt a deep admiration for this tough lady. "What were you going to do, walk back to Baltimore?"
Maggie smiled slightly, "Well, maybe just to Dana's. I hadn't really thought that far ahead. I just had to get out of that car." "Well, I'm glad you did. Now, I will take you home and make sure you get there safe and sound."
Skinner nodded toward the canvas bag, "You were at an award ceremony? Did you win an award?"
Maggie smiled and pulled a small but beautiful wooden plaque out of the bag. "I did. It's a humanitarian award for my volunteer work mentoring Navy wives whose husbands are shipped out or who are having trouble adjusting to life on base."
Skinner raised both his eyebrows, genuinely impressed. "Maggie, that is really something."
Maggie shrugged, "I needed to do something with myself after the kids were all out of the house, so I picked something I knew. They, my girls, really saved me when I lost Bill. They reminded me that life doesn't stop, and I couldn't let his death destroy me. There was still a purpose for me."
Walter was quiet for a moment, "Did you know that Phil the flirt was going to be there tonight?" "Yes, he's there every year, he's on the board. And he's been making advances toward me ever since I've known him, even when Bill was alive. He was never aggressive though, otherwise I would have left with Jennifer and Aaron."
"You didn't have your own escort?" Skinner bit his tounge after that, sure she was going to think him either sexist or insulting her intelligence.
Thankfully for him, Maggie took the question in the spirit with which it was asked. She laughed softly before answering. "I took Fox with me last year for just that very reason. I almost had to save *him* from some of those clucking old hens!"
Skinner laughed a big laugh, imagining Mulder getting drug off by a group of handsy old ladies, all because he was trying to do his girlfriend and partner's mom a favor.
"Charlie has gone with me before too. I just didn't think much of it when they weren't available and I decided to go alone." "Well, thankfully, it turned out alright."
Skinner pulled up into Maggie's driveway, grateful that the house looked quiet and undisturbed. "Yes, thanks to you. Walter, thank you so much for being my knight in shining armor tonight. You really saved the day."
Skinner realized that Maggie was expecting him to stay in the car, and that was just not going to happen. "Maggie, I'm walking you to the door and making sure everything is alright before I leave you alone again."
"Walter, that's sweet." Maggie had considered adding that it wasn't really necessary, but the truth of the matter was that her run in with Phil had left her a little shaken and she was glad for the company up to the security of her house.
So, when Skinner offered up his arm she linked hers through and they walked together up the driveway. "Are you sure you don't want me to have a look around?" Skinner asked when they reached the front porch, " I don't want to leave without you feeling totally secure."
"No," Maggie, touched, laid a hand alongside his cheek. "Thank you, but I have a security system and everything looks normal."
Maggie's touch and her knight in shining armor remark was making Walter feel every bit the hero in an action movie. He caught the perp, put another bad guy in his place and rescued the damsel in distress. And, the good guy always gets the girl, right?
Feeling brazen, with Maggie's hand still touching his face, Walter leaned close and kissed her. He heard her exclaim in surprise, but she didn't pull back. Instead, she leaned into the kiss and responded with kisses of her own.
The air around them was electric as they explored each other's mouths. Walter's fingers carded through Maggie's still wet hair as he pulled her closer. She felt his strong but gentle grip and she shivered. It had been too long and she had missed being kissed with passion.
It was a perfect end to the movie, until Walter realized that he was doing the very thing Phil the dirtbag had done to her; take advantage of her in a moment of vulnerability.
Walter jerked back as if Maggie had slapped him instead of returning the kiss. "Maggie, God, I'm sorry. That was so inappropriate."
Maggie tried to reassure him, but he cut her off, too swept up in his own perceived stupidity to listen to her words. "I'll stay until you get the door locked behind you. Goodnight Maggie."
Skinner's tone left no room for argument, so Maggie, confused about the sudden turn the evening had taken, entered her house alone and locked the door.
*************************************************
Skinner was nervous before his next scheduled meeting with Mulder and Scully. He had taken liberties with Maggie and he was sure she hated him for it. He was stupid and had ruined yet another normal relationship, even if it had been only a friendship. He was positive he was going to hear it from Scully, and in his mind, he deserved everything she could dish out.
Walter did his best to appear business as usual while Mulder yammered on about his latest expense report. Scully looked uncomfortable and Skinner was waiting for her to pick the right moment to unload on him. "Is that all Agents?" His normal close of the meeting statement was out of his mouth before he could stop it.
*Good job Walter, give her an opening.*
"Actually sir, there is one other thing." Scully shifted slightly.
*Here it comes. Brace yourself, Walter Old Boy.*
"I wanted to thank you sir, for taking care of my mom the other night. Phil has always been a sleeze, and I'm glad you were there when she needed you."
"Thank me?" Skinner sputtered but caught himself quickly. Obviously, Maggie hadn't mentioned the kiss to her daughter. Interesting. "No need to thank me Scully, glad I could help. I'm only sorry her awards evening was dampered."
Scully shrugged, "She doesn't really think much of those things anyway. She does it for the women who are in the same position she was once in. She even became a certified doula so she could be a better birth coach for women whose husbands couldn't make it home for the birth of their children. I've lost count as to how many babies she has helped deliver." Scully smiled, obviously proud of her mother.
Mulder and Scully stood to leave and Skinner stopped them with a question that had been lingering in his mind. "Scully, this guy Phil, do you think he's a real threat to your mother?"
Scully considered her words for a moment. "He got drunk and grabbed her butt at a Christmas party once and my father punched him in the face and broke his nose. He doesn't really know how to take no for an answer, but I don't really think he's dangerous. I'm going to keep an ear out though."
Skinner nodded, "I know you will. Just out of curiosity, what is Phil's last name?"
"Stratton."
Scully left the Assistant Director's office with a small smile on her face. Skinner had a crush on her mom. At least now she could be sure that Phil would be properly taken care of. ***************************************************
Part 2
Walter Skinner hate shopping. He hated shopping at the mall especially. He hated shopping at *this* mall most of all.
Four floors of teenagers and powerwalking old people made him want to pull out his gun and shoot someone after about five minutes.
But, one thing Skinner loved was his neice. 14 years old, she was one of the only members of his family he really looked forward to seeing. It wasn't that he had a bad relationship with his brothers, they were just very different people.
Isabelle however, was more like him than the rest of their small town family. He had let work be his excuse not to travel home the previous Thanksgiving and Christmas, which had badly disappointed his niece.
So, here he was, two weeks before her July birthday, at the mall, looking for some weird teen girl book she wanted.
Obviously, the book store was all the way on the fourth floor, hidden between a shoe store and some clothing store with a shirtless, impossibly chisled 18 year old in the window as a human display.
Finally finding what he wanted, Skinner began a rapid exit. He had pulled a muscle in his calf at the gym two days before and it was really starting to smart.
So, when he saw a small sign marked, "elevator" he detoured and pressed the button. Entering the elevator, Skinner turned and saw that he was accompanied by a tall, thin man and a **very** pregnant woman. He smiled at them politely, not really wanting to make small talk.
The woman seemed anxious and nervous. He husband was standing very close to her, almost protective. **What is going on with them?**
Seeing Skinner giving them the eye, the man smiled at him broadly. "We're on our way to the hospital. Her water broke in Babies R Us."
Skinner nodded, hoping she wouldn't have anything else 'break' in the elevator with him. "Congratulations." Skinner murmured.
Just as the words crossed his brain, the elevator jerked and stopped and the lights went out. Skinner braced himself against a wall, and the pregnant woman screamed and clung to her husband.
*You have GOT to be kidding me.*
"What is going on?" The woman asked frantically. Skinner tried to be calm, praying he wasn't actually stuck in a metal box with a woman in labor.
"I'm sure it's just a minor electrical problem. Let me call on the emergency phone." Pulling the phone from it's box on the wall, Skinner listened, expecting someone to be on the other end of the line.
"Hello? Hello? Is someone there?" Dead silence was his only response. Skinner spied the couple, the man helping his wife breathe through a contraction.
Skinner tried to remain optomistic. "No problem, I'll just use my cell phone." He tried the main number the automated information line gave him for the mall, but it just rang and rang.
"The power might be out to the whole mall." Skinner muttered to himself.
"What are we going to do?" The man now looked worried instead of excited. "Let me try something else."
Skinner was desperate, dialing 911 on his cell. Thankfully, he got through to the 911 operator, who informed him that a serious car accident had wiped out power to most of the area surrounding the mall. It would take time for rescue workers to get around to the people trapped in the elevator, baby coming or not.
"Dammit." Skinner had been disconnected with emergency services. When he tried to call back, all of the lines were busy. "I'll bet everyone and their brother is trying to call 911 because of the damn power outage."
The man began to panic. "My wife, she's having a baby. We can't be trapped, we just can't." Dispite Skinner's best efforts to calm the man, he hyperventilated and was soon passed out in the corner of the elevator.
"Damn." Skinner's attention turned to the woman, who was once again having a hard and painful contraction. "What's your name?" "Eileen." She answered through gritted teeth. "And your husband?" "Michael." She was talking normally again, so the contraction seemed to have passed.
"My name is Walter. We're going to get out of here. Michael is ok, we're just going to leave him alone, ok?" Skinner crouched down so he could look in her eyes as she once again doubled over in pain. "Listen to me, everything is going to be ok."
Eileen grabbed the front of Skinner's shirt. "Unless you're a doctor, I'm not so sure of that. This baby is coming, and soon!" "Ok, ok. Just sit down and rest and I will figure out what we're going to do."
Skinner's mind raced. *Doctor, doctor. Call Scully. Wait, she's a pathologist. Does she know about delivering babies?* His mind flashed to his discussion with Scully in his office. **certified doula.** ** I've lost count of how many babies she's helped deliver.** *Maggie* he thought, *Maggie knows how to deliver babies.*
*Please answer, please answer.* His mind chanted as he dialed her cell number, hearing Eileen groan in the background as another contraction gripped her.
"Hello?" Walter heard Maggie's voice in answer his call. He paused for a moment, suddenly aware that he hadn't spoken to her since the night he kissed her and ran off. Awkward. "Hello?" He finally found his voice. "Maggie, it's Walter. I need your help. I am stuck in an elevator at the mall with a woman about to give birth. Emergency crew is not going to get here on time. Tell me what to do. Help me!" His words came put in a rush.
"You're what?" Maggie was surprised, but recovered quickly. She talked Skinner through helping Eileen get comfortable and in a good position to deliver. She spoke calmly to Eileen, getting to know her, and the baby (It was a boy, Skinner hadn't even thought to ask.) helping her feel like someone at least, knew what they were doing.
Finally, Eileen declared it was time to push. "Ok, Eileen, when you feel the urge to push, you push." Maggie spoke calmly to her. "Walter, when the baby's head comes out, make sure the cord isn't wrapped around his neck." "Ok." Walter's voice was strained. He had never considered doing anything with a baby's cord, especially one the for all purposes was only half born.
Suddenly, he was envious of Eileen's husband who was still passed out cold. "Walter, Walter," Maggie's voice brought him back to the moment. "Yes, Maggie, I'm here." His voice conveyed the stress that he was feeling. "Walter, you're doing great."
The confidence in him that came through in her warm voice calmed him as Eileen pushed hard again. All of a sudden, Walter could see the top of a dark head. Another push and the head was out, no cord in sight. A few seconds later, Walter Skinner was holding a brand new baby boy. His hands shook as the baby took his first breath in his grasp.
Walter wrapped him in a blanket Eileen had purchased at Babies R Us before her water broke and handed the bundle to his waiting mother. The moment the babe was in his mother's arms, a crowbar successfully pried open the doors of the elevator, revealing two firefighters. "Excellent timing gentlemen." Skinner commented dryly.
He helped them lower Eileen and the baby down out of the elevator which had been stopped between the first and second floors and onto a gurney. Michael, who was just coming to, was next. Skinner followed, the magnitude of what had just happened finally hitting him.
Remembering Maggie, he called her name into his phone a couple of times as he followed the fire fighters and EMTs through the open area of the mall. Surprisingly, there were still a lot of people there, dispite the power outage. Walter, not getting a response from Maggie he looked at his phone. Had she hung up?
All of a sudden, he heard Maggie call his name, not through his phone, but from the crowd. He searched for and found her familiar face amongst the sea of strangers. Somehow, she had made her way from her house to the mall while walking him through the delivery.
Walter was elated to see her. Relief and adrenaline coursed through his veins as he made his way up to her. Skinner wrapped his arms around her waist, picked her up and spun her around in a circle. Maggie laughed out loud.
Setting her down, Walter took her face in his hands. "Maggie, you saved the day." He whispered and kissed her hard. It was just a momentary swak on the lips, but it was enough to take Maggie's breath away.
Skinner started toward the ambulance, calling behind him, "I'm going with them to the hospital." Maggie shook her head in amusement at his retreating form. "Call me and let me know how things go." She called to him. He only waved in response.
It was after midnight before Maggie's phone rang again. She hoped it was Walter. "Hello?"
"Maggie? I didn't wake you up, did I?"
Maggie smiled at the receiver. "No, I was waiting for you to call. How is everyone?"
Walter's voice sounded relieved as he answered. "They're all fine. They named the baby Stephen." Maggie thought she heard him swollow hard, "Stephen Walter."
"Oh, Walter, isn't that nice. I hope you got their contact information. It is quite something to watch a baby that you helped bring in to the world grow up." Skinner assured her that he did.
Maggie was suddenly reminded of something. "Oh, I have your book! You left it in the elevator." Skinner chuckled, the sound making Maggie's stomach flip. "I'm glad you do, because I don't think I am ever going back to that mall again!"
Maggie laughed. "I'm going to be in the city tomorrow. How about coffee?" Skinner agreed and they set a time and a place. They said their goodbyes and hung up. As Maggie settled down into her bed, her last thought was that she had just scheduled a 'date' with Walter Skinner. Amazing.
Maggie was already sitting in a booth at the coffee shop when Skinner got there. He studied her a moment before she noticed him.
*Beautiful* he thought, before catching himself. *You've kissed her inapproprietly twice now. She's being kind returning the book for Isabelle. What makes you think she's going to want to see you after today?*
Just then, Maggie saw him and smiled a hundred watt smile. Appropriate or not, Walter knew that if it was in his power, he would see Maggie again.
"So," Maggie said as Skinner sat down with his drink, "I never would have pictured you as a fan of Vampire Fiction." Realizing she was referring to the book, Skinner blushed. He hadn't actually known what it was about.
"It's for my neice. Her birthday is next week. I haven't seen her in a while, so I wanted to get her something good for a gift."
"And what a story it has to go with it now!" Maggie exclaimed. "Imagine if you'd just bought it online."
Skinner shook his head. "Trust me, Maggie, I am doing *all* my shopping online from now on!" They chatted quietly for a few minutes about nothing in particular, just enjoying one another's company.
Maggie looked at her watch and started, "Walter, I am sorry to cut and run, but I am going to be late for my appointment. I hope your neice enjoys the book."
She stood, and as she walked by him, Skinner, still sitting, caught her hand in his. He suddenly felt very shy. "Maggie, I would very much like to see you again."
Maggie looked down into his face and smiled nervously, catching her lip slightly between her teeth. "Yes, I'd like that." Her voice had come out in a hushed whisper and before Skinner could register her words, she had pulled her hand out of his grip and was out the door.
Little did either of them know that the next time they saw each other would not be a social occasion, but caused by something much more sinister.
